On Tubi, I watched the 1996 indie romantic comedy Dream for an Insomniac, written and directed by novelist, filmmaker, and founder of indie record label Bright Antenna Tiffanie DeBartolo. The film starred Ione Skye, Mackenzie Astin, and Jennifer Aniston, and is largely set in a family-run coffee shop in San Francisco, called Cafe Blue Eyes, run by Leo (Seymour Cassel), named in honor of his friendship with Frank Sinatra. The film centers on Frankie (Skye), an aspiring actress who lives above the coffeeshop and is close with her cousin Rob (Michael Landes), and they both work at the coffeeshop. Frankie has struggled with insomnia ever since her parents' death in a car accident during her childhood. She sees the world in black and white, as does the audience. until she meets the new barista at her job, David (Astin), and her world switches to vivid color (a la The Wizard of Oz) as they begin a romance and recite poetry to each other.
Rob is gay, and isn't ready to come out to his father yet, so he has his friend Allison (Aniston), also an actress, pretend to be his girlfriend, and she plays around with French, American Southern, and Irish accents as practice for acting. This came out at the height of Aniston's fame with Friends, and the beginning of her run in romantic comedies, appearing in She's the One the same year, and she would be in other 90s romantic comedies like Picture Perfect and The Object of my Affection. She's fun and breezy in this movie, and her star power makes it feel like she shouldn't just be the best friend in this film, like she was already too famous for that by the time this film came out.
The film is a snapshot of the mid-90's indie scene in romantic comedies, with young city people hanging out in coffeeshops, gay friend characters but not the main leads yet, jazzy score, and alternative and indie rock songs, like the eels' "Novocaine for the Soul" opening the film.
Mackenzie Astin is alright in the film, but I felt like he was overshadowed by the other stars, and I kept picturing James LeGros in his role, as he has had more charisma and more of a history in independent films of the 1980s and 1990s.
Ione Skye is fun and quirky and cute to watch in the movie, coming off more like a relatable city friend who is stylish and hip and pretty, and it is a difference seeing her starring in this romantic comedy to being in best friend roles later in her career in the 2004 remake of Fever Pitch as Drew Barrymore's friend.
It's a nice movie, not too memorable beyond the title, sort of trying to be artsy but still staying pretty conventional to the times.
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